60th Anniversary of the Voting Rights Act
Sixty years ago, Lyndon B. Johnson signed the Voting Rights Act (VRA) into law, outlawing discriminatory barriers that prevented voters of color from exercising their right to vote.
In the decades since it was passed into law, the VRA has been reauthorized every time with bipartisan support and signed by presidents of both political parties. The VRA remains necessary to this day to prevent voter discrimination for all of us, no matter the language we speak, the color of our skin, or the zip code we live in.
The Senate just reintroduced the John R. Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act (JLVRAA), which will fully modernize and restore the VRA to protect voters against discrimination.
Yet since the Supreme Court decision in Shelby County v. Holder that gutted section 5 of the VRA, discriminatory voting laws have been enacted across the country. We must restore and strengthen the full protections of the VRA by passing the JLVRAA, vital legislation that is needed to ensure that discriminatory voting policies are stopped in their tracks.
The JLVRAA will ensure renewed oversight, accountability, and justice in our democracy so all voters can exercise their right to vote. Every voter deserves to be treated fairly at the ballot box, and everyone must be able to make their voice heard. We cannot stand for a democracy that enables regressive and dangerous attacks on the right to cast one’s ballot, disproportionately suppressing voters of color.
At this critical moment in our nation’s history, we need the JLVRAA! Tell your Representatives and Senators to support the John R. Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act and live up to the full promise of American democracy.
